to illustrate them with modern as well as ancient instances. And very admirably he does this. He is much too cautious a thinker to be led away by theories, and constantly keeps his feet on solid ground. The present volume is but an instalment, and treats only of Production and Distribution. In a concluding chapter he deals with Utopias. His remarks on Socialism are deserving of the very greatest attention. They are wise and weighty and calculated to make those who are addicted to this fashionable ism pause. It is not necessary to agree with everything Mr. Nicholson has said; but taking his volume as a whole, it is an extremely valuable contribution to a subject which, though much talked about, is surrounded with difficulties that are by no means always understood even by those who are prepared to solve them out of hand.

Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Arthurian Story from the Sixteenth Century. By M. W. MACCALLUM, M.A. Glasgow: James Maclehose & Sons.

1894.

At

Critics have said so much about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table that the old story is beginning to have every appearance of losing some of its charms. Once upon a time it was full of enchantments and delights, but the critics have dealt with these as children often deal with flowers, pulling them to pieces to see what there is in the heart of them, and they have done this so often and remorselessly that one can scarcely take up a book with a title similar to that given above without being haunted by the thought Here is another disenchanter, one who is about to tell us that Arthur, the King Arthur of the Romance, was a myth, or the Prince of myths, who presided, or was supposed to preside, over the Brythonic Hades, which somehow or other came to be located in Scotland. any rate, critics, philologers, folklorist, and others of that sort, have done much to destroy the pleasure one used to have in reading the old Arthurian romances. The result of their cuttings and carvings, their analyses and their arguments may be knowledge, but it is not poetry. It may be good, very enlightening and very instructive so far as it goes, and that after all is not very far. All the same, for our own part, we would rather have the poetry, the enchantments and the mysteries, and read the old world's dreams unmolested by doubts and untroubled by theories, than the very uncertain results which have as yet yielded to the inquisitions of the critic. Mr. Maccallum has written a very sensible and readable book. Happily he is not a specialist. Certainly he has made no attempt to dissipate Arthur, his Queen, or his Knights into thin air. So far as we can make out, he believes them to have been real beings, afterwards idealised, but all the same real beings. He approaches his subject more as a historian and a poet than as a philologer, anxious to find out proofs for a theory. It may, in some respects, be a disadvantage to him that he is not a Celtic scholar; but for the purpose he has in hand it is not. After dealing with Arthur among the Celts and the Romantic Historians, in Mallory and the English Ballads, he proceeds to sketch the fortunes of the Arthurian story in England during the Puritan period, and subsequently down to the revival of interest in the old romances. Next he glances at Tennyson's contemporaries at home and abroad, among whom he mentions Immermann, Roeber, Schneegans, and Wagner in Germany, Quinet and Paulin Paris in France, and W. Morris, R. S. Hawker, Matthew Arnold, and Swinburne in England, and then proceeds to treat of Tennyson as the Arthurian poet, and to discuss the general meaning of the Idylls as a series. Whether the reader studies the first part of the volume or not, and if he does he will find much to instruct him, from the perusal of the second and main part he will turn to the Idylls and read

them with a heightened sense of enjoyment.

He will see in them much

more than he saw before, and have a larger understanding of their drift and power.

Our Intellectual Strength and Weakness. By J. G. BOURINOT, C.M.G., D.C.L., etc. London B. Quaritch; Montreal: Foster, Brown, & Co. 1893.

This volume, which is intended to be the beginning of a series of historical and other essays to be periodically reproduced in a convenient form for the general reader from the larger volumes of the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, is from the pen of Dr. Bourinot, whose opinion in all matters connected with the literary as well as with the Parliamentary history of the Dominion is of considerable weight, and deals with a subject that will be interesting to many as well on this side of the Atlantic as on the other. Originally it formed the presidential address to the Royal Society at its meeting in 1893 at Ottawa, and consists for the most part of a history of literature in Canada, in the course of which Dr. Bourinot passes in rapid review the works of the various authors who have appeared on the Canadian soil. He has much to say on the state of education and art, and pays a handsome tribute to the influence which the Marquess and Marchioness of Lorne had upon the development of the latter. In the literatures of England and France he believes that the Canadians have a priceless heritage, and sees in the rivalry of the two languages an incentive to more vigorous intellectual effort. The address, in short, opens up a comparatively new chapter in the history of literature, and contains evidence that the country, though still in its infancy, and greatly hampered by its physical conditions, has a great future before it, both political and literary. Dr. Bourinot has added to the address a considerable number of interesting and informing notes, bibliographical and other.

A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles founded mainly on materials collected by the Philological Society. Edited by Dr. JAMES A. H. MURRAY. Everybody-Ezod (forming part of Vol. III.) By HENRY BRADLEY, Hon. M.A., Oxon. Oxford. At the Clarendon Press, 1894.

Mr. Bradley here completes the letter E. Most of the words registered are those which begin with the prefix Ex. Many of them are in some respects curious and not a few of them are obsolete. The interest attaching to some of the words is great, though the number of these is not so great as in one or two of the preceding parts. It is almost needless to say that the work done in this part fully equals the high standard reached in the other parts. Every article is excellent. Among them may be noted those on the words 'evil,' 'evolution,' 'excalibur,' 'excise,'' express,' 'exchequer,' 'ex-libris,' 'exercise,' 'exchange.' From the article under the last we learn that in the United States 'exchange' is the name given to a dram-shop. The legal articles are as usual excellent; so are the philosophical. The rapidity with which this vast magnificent work is going on brings its completion within measurable distance, even though the part dealing with the letter D has still to come.

The first series of the late Dean Chua's Village Sermons' have long been well known for their clear spiritual teaching and fine ethical inspiration. A second series-Village Sermons preached at Wha y by the late Dean Church (Macmillan)-has now been issued. The rmons in this series fully sustain the reputation of the first, and will de welcomed by many as being characterised by the same distinctive features.

The Mystery of Iniquity and other Sermons (Macmillan) is another volume of sermons by the late Dr. Brooks. Like previous sermons by the same writer, they are remarkable for their freshness of thought, simplicity, and eloquence. Dr. Brooks had few rivals among the preachers of America, and the volume before us only gives emphasis to the loss which the American Church and the United States have sustained by his lamented death.

The lectures which the late Dr. Hort delivered on the Hulsean Foundation in 1871 are now published under the title, The Way the Truth the Life (Macmillan). The delay in their publication has been due to the author's inability to find time for their revision. A number of the pages in the present volume have had the advantage of his revision, but the majority of them have not. The consequence is the lectures are, for the most part, issued not as their author intended them to be issued, but as they were preached, with the addition of such notes and illustrations as he was permitted to make to them before his death. In the touching prefatory note which has been written for the volume, Dr. Westcott admirably characterises the lectures when he says, speaking of what Dr. Hort has here written: 'He brings out under many forms, and in many applications, that the primary message of the Gospel is the message of life. Everywhere he points to the Incarnation as the supreme fact in which development finds its law, progress its goal, the individual-the fragment -consummation in a Divine unity.' The lectures are, as Dr. Westcott further observes, chapters in the history of a soul of singular sincerity and depth,' and bring the reader into living fellowship with one who has known what it is to search for the Light and to see it.'

Fishers of Men (Macmillan) contains the address delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury within the diocese of Canterbury during his Lordship's third visitation. They deal practically and earnestly with such topics as Church legislation, the Christian education of children, elementary and higher education, the thoughts which are now struggling for expression in various classes of society, the work and organisation of the Church, and the problems which lie before it.

The Acts of the Apostles (Macmillan) is an hitherto unpublished volume of sermons by the late Professor Maurice. As such it will be received by a very wide circle of readers with pleasure. To all appearance Mr. Maurice intended the series for publication, but why it has been so long delayed, Mr. Ludlow, who edits the volume, does not say. Like the sermons on the third and fourth Gospels, and like those on the books of the Old Testament, this latest addition to the collected edition of Mr. Maurice's works, bears witness to his remarkable keenness of spiritual perception. The interpretations given to the text are such as might have been expected. They are always fresh, reverent and practical, and often throw a bright and vivid light upon the meaning of the Evangelist's narrative. As in his Gospel St. Luke set in order what Jesus began to do, so here, Mr. Maurice tells us, he is occupied in telling what He went on to do.

The Hon. and Rev. Arthur T ple Lyttleton's College and University Sermons (Macmillan) were preached for the most part in the Chapel of Selwyn College, the rest of them being delivered before the University of Cambridge. ey deal with such topics as the moral power of the knowledge of God, hrist as a Spiritual Master, Original Sin, the Catholic position of the English Church, eternal punishments, the hope of immortality and the ideal of a religious education. They are evangelical in tone and reverent in spirit. The author is an acute reasoner, and states his positions temperately. His sense of the greatness and solemnity of the subjects with which he deals is always evident.

Honouring God (Alex. Gardner) is a series of lectures by the Rev. J. A. Paton, Free Church minister at Dalbeattie, in which he endeavours to show what we are to believe, how we are to live and act, and what reward is promised to the upright. The lectures show considerable reading, and to the class to whom they were addressed would doubtless prove instructive and edifying. They are directed against what, in the opinion of Mr. Paton, and in the opinion of many others, are among the leading errors of the day in religious matters. Whether they will convince others than those who were present at their delivery is another question. At any rate, Mr. Paton has done his best, and his work has met with the approval of many.

The Religious Tract Society have issued a new and enlarged edition of their well-known Annotated Paragraph Bible. The paragraph arrangement but with the chapters and verses distinctly marked, as well as the metrical form of the poetical books, including the prophecies of the Old Testament, has been retained, and the great divisions of such books as the Psalms and Proverbs have been noted. The authorised text of 1611 has been used, as in the previous edition, with the exception of some few differences in punctuation and the use of italics. The prefaces and introductions, though carefully revised, are substantially the same. Little, if any notice, however, has been taken of the recent advances in Biblical criticism, though some attention has been given to the various readings of the text of the New Testament, and the more important of them have been inserted but without discussion. The notes are, as before, strictly explanatory and illustrative, and everything has been done, so far as space would allow, to illustrate the language of the Sacred Writers by references to manners and customs, geography and history. Need we say that throughout the tone is thoroughly devout and orthodox? The explanations are, as a rule, brief and to the point, and here and there much light is thrown upon the text. The same Society have also sent out in 'By-paths of Bible Knowledge,' a very useful volume, entitled The Money of the Bible, by Dr. George C. Williamson, in which an account is given of the un coined money used in Old Testament times, of the coins used among the Jews at a later period, and of those named in the New Testament. Facsimiles of the coins are given, and the letter-press is abundantly illustrated. To their Present Day Tracts a volume has been added containing essays on the 'Testimonies of Great Men to the Bible and Christianity,' 'Theology, an inductive and progressive Science,' 'Modern Scepticism compared with Christian Faith,' 'The Psalms of David and Modern Criticism,' 'The Problem of Human Suffering,' and 'Christ's Doctrine of Prayer.' They have also issued the first two volumes of a new series, entitled 'Present Day Primers,' the first of which has for its title 'Early Church History,' and the second, The Printed English Bible, 1525-1885.' The series promises to be very useful to those for whom it is prepared. Mr. Richard Lovett has prepared for the Society another volume on James Gilmour, entitled James Gilmour and his boys. Mr. Gilmour, it appears, was in the

habit of writing home to his boys in England accounts of his journeys, and selections from the letters he addressed to them form the larger part of this interesting volume. The character of Mr. J. Oswald Jackson's little volume is sufficiently indicated by its title, The Golden Secret of Christian Work.

Some time ago the Bishop of Ripon published a volume of fairy stories entitled, 'Truth in Tale,' in which he endeavoured to bring home to young and old a variety of religious truths. The volume was acceptable in many quarters, both on account of the Bishop's skill as a story-teller and because of the lessons the tales conveyed. Twilight Dreams (Macmillan) is another volume of the same kind from the hand of Dr. Carpenter. The 'dreams' are admirably related in a species of prose which is almost poetic. If anything, the plots, if we may so say, of the 'dreams' are in some instances a little more complicated. The truths they convey are always noble, and forcibly driven home.

The Rev. Alexander Whyte, D.D., of St. George's Free Church, Edinburgh, who has done so much in the way of exposition for Bunyan, has published a second series of lectures, entitled Bunyan Characters (Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier). The characters dealt with in this volume are such as Great-Heart, Mr. Timorous, Mr. Skill, Hopeful, Ignorance, Old Honest. Dr. Whyte's lectures are brief but full of wholesome practical teaching, and not without a certain measure of quiet humour. The success of the first series is a guarantee that this second will find favour among a large class of readers.

In The Witness to Immortality (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston), the Rev. Geo. A. Gordon, the minister of the Old South Church, Boston, gathers together the testimonies of Hebrew Prophets, of Poets, Philosophers, and scientific writers, together with the teaching of our Lord and St. Paul, as to the life hereafter, and discourses eloquently upon them. There is a beautiful literary charm running throughout his pages which are full of noble and inspiring thoughts.

Essays, Addresses, and Lyrical Translations (Macmillan), is a collection of papers written by the late Dr. T. Campbell Finlayson, formerly minister of the Rusholme Congregational Church, Manchester, to which Professor Wilkins of Owens College has prefixed a sympathetic biographical sketch of their author. The papers deal with a variety of subjects; among others, with Lord Tennyson's 'In Memoriam,' Mr. Browning's 'Pippa Passes, 'The Practical Uses of the Imagination,' 'Christianity and the Religion of the Future,' 'Stoicism' and 'Cynicism.' The papers are bright and scholarly, and show that Dr. Finlayson had many sides to his nature notwithstanding his diffidence.

Professor Tout's Edward the First (Macmillan's 'Twelve English Statesmen' Series), is an admirable little book, clear, penetrating, impartial, and eminently readable. It belongs to an excellent series, and easily takes its place with the rest. This is how Professor Tout describes the effect of Edward's first conquest of Scotland: Behind the politic opposition of the Scottish nobles there lay the growing sense of indignation of the Scots people. The violent policy of Edward was gradually welding together the sturdy Anglian peasant of the Lothians, the Anglicised Gael of the Northeast, and the half-Anglicised Briton of the South-west, into a real and vigorous national unity. As the Norman conquerors of England bound together Mercian, Northumbrian, and West Saxon by common servitude, so that a single English nation, strong, determined, and united, rose out